Billy Fox

Bio:

His mixed musical background is probably an important reason for the fact that he dares to approach the most classical of jazz in this completely fearless album… A really good jazz album all the way through, where I mostly applaud Fox for finding his own language in the rich jazz tradition at the same time as he dares to be unfashionably conventional. -- Markus Axelsson, Jazz på Svenska

...exquisitely arranged and made precious by an infinite catalog of amusing details and harmonic refinement...passes from the modal atmosphere of 1960s jazz of "Uncle Wiggly" and "Eyeball Eyeball" (worthy of the pen of Oliver Nelson), to the silken oriental suggestions of the hypnotic "Guzzle"; to the embroiled Latin burning of "Do the Wiggle"...to the glamorous cool of the dreamy "Kooky Spooks." -- Luca Canine, All About Jazz Italia

Fox's music is a very enticing mix of the accessible and the quirky... The feel of the familiar combined with constant surprises is very enticing and enables Uncle Wiggly to give listening pleasure many times. -- Budd Kopman, All About Jazz

Northern Virginia heard madness and murder this weekend, as jazz met Japan in Rosslyn…Composer/director Billy Fox deftly guided the improvising chamber group through the world premiere of his 13 movement composition, receiving a standing ovation at the performance’s conclusion. -- Paul Ghosh-Roy, DCist

Composer, drummer, and percussionist. I've played and composed everything from hardcore punk to avant garde jazz. Stops along the way include rockabilly, speed metal, hip hop and funk, pop, and mambo and Latin Jazz.

My newest album, entitled "Dulces," will be released on Clean Feed Records in November 2010. Featuring Gary Pickard, Miki Hirose, Matt Parker, Evan Mazunik, James Ilgenfritz, Arei Sekiguchi, and Julianne Carney. Check out excerpts here.

The Kaidan Suite is a 13-movement suite for improvising chamber ensemble, based on hyakumonogatari kaidankai (Japanese ghost stories told by candlelight). The Kitsune Ensemble, which is comprised of Japanese and American musicians, released the Kaidan Suite in January 2007 on Gozen Reiji Records. The suite premiered at the Planet Arlington world music series and has been performed at the Kennedy Center and during Manhattan's Spring Fever Festival.

Highlights of my compositional career include being awarded grants by the American Composers Forum (a McKnight Visiting Composers Fellowship, which allowed me to conduct workshops with Minnesota musicians in 2008), the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and the Puffin Foundation; being selected as first alternate for the Japan-US Friendship Commission's Creative Artists Fellowship and the Jerome Foundation Travel/Research grant; composing and recording the Uncle Wiggly Suite featuring Mark Dresser, which was released in 2007 on Portugal's Clean Feed Records; composing Latin jazz charts for Daisuke Kurata for two concert series in Nagoya, Japan; arranging charts for Afro Cuban big bands at the Manhattan School of Music and New School University.

My compositions are featured in the films Paper Man, directed by Kieran and Michele Mulroney and starring Jeff Daniels, Emma Stone, Lisa Kudrow, and Ryan Reynolds; and Rhyme Animal, directed by Phil Roc (producer of Sony Music's documentary "Made in Heaven--The Making of Kind of Blue") and starring muMs ("Oz"), Al Thompson ("The Royal Tenenbaums"), and Bridget Barkan ("Sherrybaby").

As a sideman, I've worked with Nashville and Washington D.C.'s Last Train Home; Memphis and New York's Candice Ivory; Richmond, Va.'s Hotel X; Washington D.C.'s Beat Sugar, Nuevo Cache, and those underground hardcore punk legends, United Mutation and Malefice.

Member Since:

April 23, 2005

Members:

Since I'm pretty much a composer these days (allows me to be creative in my pajamas), it's usually just me.

In early 2006, I formed the Kitsune Ensemble, featuring John Savage (flute), Gary Pickard (clarinet, bass clarinet), Christopher Hoffman (cello), Yayoi Ikawa (piano), Tim Collins (vibes), Yoshi Waki (bass), Yasushi Nakamura (bass), and Arei Sekiguchi (drums, percussion).

In 2009, I formed Blackbirds & Bullets, featuring Gary Pickard (alto/soprano sax), Miki Hirose (trumpet), Matt Parker (tenor sax), Evan Mazunik (keyboard), James Ilgenfritz (bass), and Arei Sekiguchi (drums).

The lineup for the Uncle Wiggly Suite includes Mark Dresser (bass), Deanna Witkowski (piano), John Savage (flute, alto sax), Gary Pickard (soprano, tenor saxes), Percy Pursglove (trumpet), Christopher Hoffman (cello), and John O'Brien (drums). Paul Faatz (clarinet, bass clarinet, baritone sax), Arun Luthra (soprano, tenor saxes), Skye Steele (violin), Scott Shaeffer (bass), and Danny Katz (shamisen) also make appearances.

Influences:

Specific compositional influences include Tito Puente (yeah, he was more than a timbale player and class cut up); Jane Ira Bloom; Karl Straub (D.C.'s greatest singer/songwriter); and everything I've listened to.

Sounds Like:

My cluttered and confused head.

Record Label:

Clean Feed; Gozen Reiji